Chapter 13

Natalie fumed as she roared down the road on her motorcycle. Once again, the demon-caller had thwarted her efforts to complete her mission. She parked the bike outside an apartment, pulling out her cell phone as she climbed the stairs, and calling her employer.

"What is it, Natalie? Do you have the souls?" John sounded positively eager.

"No. They have a demon-caller. I can't do anything unless she's controlled." Natalie stalked into her apartment, slamming the door behind her. "I need back-up. Human back-up. I need her out of my way before I can retrieve the souls."

"How much back-up do you need?"

"There is the demon-caller, two mortal men, two mortal women, and the two vampires. I need enough back-up to keep the mortals out of my hair while I deal with the vampires. And someone to subdue the demon-caller."

There was silence on the other end for a moment. "Your back-up will arrive tomorrow. And they'll bring further instructions."

"Further instructions?!" Natalie squawked, but John had already hung up. She scowled. "What do you think I am? An automaton?"

She flung the phone across the room before heading into the kitchen to find dinner.

Alexa directed Lindsey to Shannon's room, where he laid her on her bed.

"Do you think she'll be all right?" Lindsey watched Shannon with concern on his face.

"I don't know. She's probably just exhausted, and a good night's sleep would do the trick for that. But I'm not sure." Alexa bit her lip. "Why don't I find you a room, and we can talk about what we're going to do about this whole mess when everyone's had sleep?"

Lindsey nodded, reluctantly following Alexa out of the room. "That would be the best course of action. Though we should have a guard out in case the demon returns."

"I'll talk to Spike. We can take care of that." She opened the door to an empty room on the far side of hers from Shannon's. "Here. Get some sleep, Lindsey." She left him to make himself at home, heading back downstairs. No one was there, except Spike. "Where did everyone else go?"

Spike shrugged. "Your friend said she'd found some empty rooms, and would go set them up in them, and Angel followed them upstairs. Probably gone off to brood."

Alexa rolled her eyes. "As usual." She plopped down on one of the sofas. "Lindsey did have one good thing to say before I sent him off to sleep. We should have someone keeping an eye out just in case the demon comes back."

"Doubt she will." Spike sprawled across the couch opposite her.

"So do I. It wouldn't make sense. Unless she's a masochist." Alexa chuckled softly. "Then she might, but she didn't strike me as someone who would willingly go where she's going to get her ass whipped." She paused, tilting her head as she looked over at Spike. "You know, that may be part of the brooding one's problem."

"What?"

"That's he's a masochist. I mean, look at him. He goes around looking for fights, looking for trouble, and he keeps getting hurt in the process. One way or another. And it's not even for people he knows, but complete strangers."

"He's trying to make up for all the mess he caused back when he was Angelus." Spike shrugged again. "Might be worth it, in some ways."

Alexa frowned. "Maybe. But at what cost? I mean, it doesn't really do anyone else any good if he hasn't gotten his own problems sorted out when he's trying to help other people with theirs. Not on that scale."

"A coping mechanism?" Spike suggested, raising an eyebrow.

"Substituting solving other people's problems for solving his own." Alexa thought it over a moment. "It makes sense. But it's not a good coping mechanism. It still doesn't get him to really deal with his problems." She sighed, shaking her head. "Enh. In the end, it's not my problem, anyway." Alexa shrugged pragmatically. "So... what is a good topic of conversation this late at night?"

"Do you still have the bottle from earlier?" Spike grinned at Alexa, and she laughed, her head falling back against the arm of the sofa.

"Spike! If we're supposed to be on guard duty, we can't polish off that bottle of wine. No matter how tempting that sounds." She flashed him a bright smile. "That was fun, though. I've never really had the chance to indulge myself like that."

Spike smirked at her, and Alexa grabbed one of the cushions to throw at him. He caught it, setting it to the side as he rose to his feet, stalking towards Alexa. She let out a strangled shriek, and vaulted over the back of the couch, watching him with amusement and mischief dancing in her eyes.

She dodged to one side as he started around the couch, then yelped in indignation when he switched directions faster than she could move, and caught her around the waist. "Not fair!"

"Who said I had to be fair, muffin?" Spike raised an eyebrow, meeting her gaze with a wicked glint in his own.

Alexa's breath caught, and her grin faded into a lopsided smile. She licked her lips, her hands curling against his chest, catching the nap of his shirt. "We really should be keeping an eye out," she murmured softly, not really wanting to have to think about responsibility at the moment.

"We will, muffin." Spike's lips were nearly brushing hers. "Later."

Author's Note: There is a NC17 scene to go with this chapter. If you would like to read that scene, please email me at , and I will send you the scene.